The Clay City times. [volume] (Clay City, Ky.) 1901-current, 1915-12-23
Pastor Makes
Plea For Unity
(By p. o. Derthick.)

r | Wy VI CNi
At this glad season of the year, whel
all the world is rejoicing over the brit
OF the Christ child, wish to reply t,
the little tract that Rey. l.. +. Martin
has written on The Presbyterian
Church"
The most pressing problem Of the
Church today is that of Christian Unity
The energies of Christendom are being
frittered away in the competitions, con.
troversies, jealousies, and friction en-.
gendered by some few preachers, who
have not caught the vision of the King.
dom Of Heaven on earth. Never before
in the history Of the world, has there
been such an opportunity for ocial ser.
vice on the part Of the Church, as there
is today. The demand for it comes
from the christian people OF all the
churches, but this work will never be
accomplished as long as there are
preachers today who cannot see beyond
the narrow. vision of their own church
In generations gone by, men stood up
in their respectisspulpit and with
their fighting clothes on, denounced
their neighbor church members in Sa-
tanic terms, and consign them all tn
hell because they did not belong to
my" Church.
That there are many churches today
is true, but it Is n futile waste of time
to try and fix the blame for this present
situation, and any preacher who thinks
he can remedy il at this late date has
atask Of trem ,ni,uj mtgnitu lie, a task
greater than the greatest and strongest
preachers of al she age Save hef nsshle
to accomplish There is much that
churches could learn from each other
If they would God could not possibly
have used so wonderously and largely
so many of the leading churches of to-
day, if they had been devoid of divine
truths Churches today are moving
forward with power under the influence
of mighty passion for souls, for the
uplift of their fellow M M, for the trans
forming Of human lives who have sunk
low in the dregs Of sin, for the building
of character, through social service and
recreation. The church has mighty
problem before it today, Humanity is
suife, ing for the risen Christ and the
church is try to reach them with the
remedy that will redeem them and dn-
lift them. Churches today rae pleading
for a closer fellowship. There is visit
ful desire on the part of tire diciples o
Christ, that the prayer Of Christ migl t
come true, that we might be one, and
christians today are seeking means that
will draw us closer together. We are
turning TO our divine leader to learn Of
Him, or how we might unite our forces
for the upbuilding Of the Kingdom Of
Christ on earth. and that we might unite
with one comm on purpose in view, that
of spiritual fellowship together
Christ never intended that there should
be IA spirit of antagonism, Of hatred, of
jealousy in His message Of love or god
news To the world The devil alone de.
lights when he can see preachers using
the vellifyins methods today that were
in common use few years ago, before
we caught the world wide vision of the
loving message of the Master.
We will never win the world for
Christ as long AS we are divided. A di-
vided chnrch will alv ays be defeated in
its mission A united church is one
where Christians are united in loyalty
To the Master, and gong forth to con-
quer the enemy. The enemy will never
be conquered rs long as we fight among
ourselves. We must unite our forces
and present n solid front TO thelenemy.
While we have been lighting, the devil
has filled our county with perils of al
kind. We have used guerilla warfare
me thods so long, that some preachers
today, are still making war upon some
great church, instead Of upon sin and
the devil. The problems facing the
church today, il challenge that We u.
mite our forces, and that a spirit of bro
therhood pcrmeate christians every
where, The world is weary Of the bit
ter strife that has been going ON so long
among preachers and churches, and an
A holt vino world j. tho nriea xV. arc