The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-08-29


opening to see the real situation. how
can we be Otherwise than indignant
and jealous for tbeshonor of our God
and for the influence of His Truth
amongst our fellowmen.
The Pastors Personal Experiences.
l speak from experience. Not that
] have had the experience of being an
alien, n stranger from God, but have
had the experience of losing my God.
The child OF believing parents. and in:
'doctrinated along Calvinistic lines to
believe that only the Elect. u handful,
would ever reach glory. and that all
the remaining non-elect would reach
"a pefdition of torment, | was accus-
toned to thinking of myself as one
Of the Elect. and appreciating the Love
Of God. which had provided for the
salvation of the Elect
AS boy of seventeen. a member of
the Y. NJ. C. A., / engaged, as did other
members at that time. in what we call
ed Gospel preaching mot realizing the
meaning Of the wcrd Gospel-that 1t
signifies good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people" Like the
others, exhorted and threatened, pic
tured Hell. and shook nay hearers over
it. Then came sober thought. Rea-
son began to assert itself over super
stiiion. / inquired of myself, Where
is this He'll which you preach? And
what do you really knows about it?
Contrasting my own ignorance on the
subject, | went TO my teachers and
elders, and was amazed to find that
they knew no more about 1t than my
self. | stopped preaching, and began
to think and to examine the creeds. l
found that the differences between
them were trivial; they all had the
one foundation of Heavenly salvation
for the sanity few. and eternal torture
for the thousands of millions in heath
en- and In Christian lands. The more
Investigated, the more | felt sure a
great nlist..xe had been made; that a
real God could not have such a plan;
such an arrangement as our creeds
declared. ! threw them. all away; and
thinking the Bible the basis for them
all. | threw it after the creeds.
soul-Hunser For God.
Having once known God as my
Heavenly Father could find no soul
rest without Him. My soul hungered
for His love and care. I still held to
| the great fact that our Universe has
an intelligent. personal Creator. His
Wisdom and Power were before me on
every starry night. My studies in
anatomy convinced ME that L myself,
all humanity, yea, every creature, is
fearfulIy and wonderfully made. The
more studied. the, more became con-
vinced that the eye could never have
come by chance. could not have been
evolved by nature god; and so with
every other. function Of my body-the
muscles, the nerves, and the power to
move in response to the mere thinking,
willing. | worshipped the God of Wis
| dom and Power, and sought to know
more of Him, confident that would
find Him good. IL
Left to the resources of my own
brain, asked, Could others and my
self possess, as gifts of our Creator,
the qualities of Justice and Love,
which we esteem the, very highest,
and yet that Creator Himself be des-
| titute of these? The answer of my
mind was, Surely, as He that formed
the eve can see He that gave hui
mainly the qualities of Justice and
/ Love, must possess these qualities i'll
infinite measure.
Thus L beheld with the eyes of my
understanding the great God of the
! Universe, infinite in His Wisdom, in
His Power, in His Justice, in His
Love worshiped again, rejoiced that
1 could have confidence in my God,
and realize that He had made neither
the world nor our race in vain-that
! He had some wise, just, loving purpose
in connection with our creation.
Intelligent Peoples Most Thoroughly
Seduced.
My next thought was, Would not a
! Just and loving God be pleased to make
known His purposes to His creatures
who desired to know and do His will?
The answer of my mind was, that |
might confidently seek Gods Message.
Thinking that had already sufficient
ly examined the Bible, turned my at
tention to heather religions. only to
find them less rational in some respects
than my own. Evidently the most in
telligent peoples of the world have
been the most thoroughly seduced by
Satan and his doctrines of demons.
into believing the most horrible things
respecting the Creator and His purpose
toward His human creatures.
Finally, I resolved on fresh study
of the Bible. assuring myself first that
my colored spectacles and those of my
friends were thoroughly broken. and
my mind entirely untrammeled. Not
without stumblings and difficulties did
the Lord gradually lead me to clearer
and yet clearer light upon His word
until found that The basis of all diff.
ficulty lay in our following Satan's lie
"Ye shall not surely de-"
From, that time the entire Bible
gradually became illuminated, beauti
full. grand, harmonious! Now. beloved
hearers, it stands spre-eminent before
my mind as the Word of God. Realiz
ing this, use my reason freely within
the limits of it's declarations, but never
outside of its authority.
Mankind Need 10 Be Encourased-No'
Browbeaten.
No pen can tell the peace and JOY