Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-25
|NEED OF 0PT|M|STs'
SO Says Rev. Dr.. Weeks at
Men and Religion Meeting.
PROGRESS OF MOVEMENT
Plans for Coming House-to-House
Canvass Are Outlined.
COMMITTEE REPORTS MADE
Social Service Exhibit to Be Opened
During Eight-Day Campaign
Beginning February II.

Woodrow Wilson defines an optimist
as q man who makes lemonade out of the
lemon you hand him." SO Rev. DR.. w. w.
Weeks of Springfield, Mass. remarked
while delivering the principal address at
the big opening gun" men and re-
ligion forward movement meeting in Cal
vary Baptist Church last evening. He de-
clared in the same connection: THAT is
the kind of optimist we need in the church
or Jesus Christ today-the man who takes
the hard things and makes them over
into the glory of God; the man who Is up
and ready to see the opportunity" The
pessimist, he said, is the man who turns
out all the lights to see how dark it is
Continuing, he said: christianity is pre-
eminently a mans religion. It's founder
was the Son of Man. He gathered round
about him bunch of men to start
the work. He appealed forever to man
and He gave the commission to carry
the gospel to the ends of the earth to
man. Far be it from me to belittle in
any way the magnificent work done by
christian women. but it is everlasting
shame upon us if we leave woman to
bear the heavier part Of the burden l
believe our weakness in the past has not
been that We asked too much of our
men, but that we asked too little.
Secular and Religious Living.
THE Christian man ought to be COM
ing up to the great battle Of the Lord of
Hosts. Life in its very essence is re-
ligious. We have made a division be-
| tween secular and religious living. A
man may be religious in his duties in the
| factory, at the forge, or in the Office.
and a man may be intensely secular
standing at the sacred altar delivering the
| great mess De of God to men. After all.
| the question of whether or not thing
| Is secular depends on the motive behind
| the thing. The man who breaches just
| for his salary is just as secular as the
man who tolls before his forge.
First of all. it our religion Is to be
worth anything it must be a religion into
which we put the very best that is in it.
If you have religion that is good on
Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday.
| Friday and Saturday, I want to absOlve
| you If You play golf on Sunday.
THE religious life must be intensely
positive. The hope for the future is that
our UNCONVENTIONAL fences are rotting
down. and let them rot. What we want
today Is less religious opinion and more
Christian conviction.
II Positive Life Is Personal.
"a positive life is personal. You say.
Well our church takes hold Of this men
and religion movement. Don't bother
about that: 1t is for 1t to get a hold
on you. The question 10 one personal
man and one personal Christ. The
trouble is with the man. Get your po-
litical man right and your political ma
chine will be right. The thing that we
must do before everything else is to
make this a personal matter with each
individual man in relation to the Lord
| Jesus Christ.
Paul says: his life must be progress
sive until We all come in the unity OF
the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son Of God to the perfect man. We
\ have got to be growing day after day..
Truth is a plan Of infinite growth.
/ mo doctrine has become a perfect in
/ strument until it has ceased to be a
problem. So long as it is problem it Is
Il not a perfect instrument. What we need
h to be moving ahead-fish, cut bait or
1 go overheard. There Is no organization
II in the world where there are so many
sleeping partners Oh. my. how they do
sleep! Some of them snore and some OF
them sleep so deep they do not even do
that"
Rev. DIR. Williamson, pastor of the
\ Third Baptist Church. st. Louis, Mo-.
n who was to have addressed the meeting,
II was called to st. Louis early in the day.
SO Rev. DR.. Weeks delivered the prin-
cipal address Of the occasion in his place
Tells Of Progress.
William Knowles Cooper. general Sec
| rotary OF the Y. M. c. A., briefly outlined
n the progress Of the men and religion for
\ ward movement in Washington and in
Il the nation at large. He declared that
thousands Of men have a more or less
clear idea of their obligation to some
church. and said that within the next
two months plans would be presented to
the men of the city by which they might
know just what they could do for the
church. Every man, whether exception
ally talented or not, can find place in
the movement. he declared, for its activi-
ties are so many that work is provided
for all. 1t is the average man, Mr.. Cooper
said. that 1t will make the success Of the
campaign in Washington.
Fred {. CrOxtOn, chairman Of the COM
mittee on evangelism and the personal
canvass, was next introduced. Mr.. Crox-
ton explained the object of church at
tendance day to be observed next Sun
the churches of the city at least 5000
men who would not otherwise attend, and
urged that all present invite some man
to come to church on that day.
He next outlined the scope OF the
house-to-house canvass in the interest of
the movement-the most ambitious of its
projects yet launched.
The object Of the committee is to
obtain accurate Information regard
ing the number of men and boys in the
city and their church Affiliations. Sunday,
February 25 more than 1000 workers for
this committee will be sent to visit every
house In the city and to obtain the names
OF every man and boy in every house
with statement as to his church prefer
| ence and the regularity Of his church at
tendance.
Bible Class Attendance.
The chairman of the Bible study COM
mittee, Rev. II. s. Pinkham, said that last
Sunday 1,35S men were present in or.
ganized Bible classes, and 2,12S in the
Sunday schools of the District, as far as
| reports have been received. Complete fig
| ures probably would increase these num-
hers to LEGO and $500, respectively. MIR
| Pinkham showed that these figures indi-
Gated that only one in four men who be-
long to the churches were present Sun
day In the Bible classes He announced
that Sunday, February 4. will be deserved
| as Sunday school day, and that it is
hoped then to bring out 1000 or COZ
men for the Bible classes who would no,
| otherwise attend.
| social service exhibit, prepared by the
social service committee of the ynOyer,o,,<