The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-07-21

brought the wastrel to his senses and
changed his whole life. We are |
forced to remember that, even as
Paul with the Corinthian scoffers, |
there comes a time when Gods Spirit
ceases to strive with man. One of
the terrible mysteries of human free
will is that God does not deny per-
son the right to go to hell, if he so
chooses.
The Church in the House.
One adjunct of the modern evan
gelistic campaign is the cottage pray
er meeting. That is a return to New
Testament usage. The church in the
| house was first and it has never
ceased to be a mighty agency of the
Kingdom. When Paul quit the syna-
gogues of Corinth-his first approach
to a city was always by the Jewish
synagogue-he established a church
| in the house of Justus, who lived
/, next door to the synagogue. There
he taught both Jew and Gentle. From
| that house flowed the stream that be-
came the famous church in Corinth.
| Somehow, there is an intimacy, an
| informality, a genuineness and SIM
plicity about religious services in Il
home that the larger gatherings in
the church building sometimes lack.
These cottage meetings." as they are
called may profitably be an adjunct
to every church's life. 1 know a con-
gregation which recently dispensed
a few weeks and substituted district
prayer meetings in the homes of
members The attendance was many
/ fold greater than usual, and new
/ life was impaired to the mid-week
i meeting when it was resumed.
/ The church in the house also pre-
supposes g. family altar, which is per-
1 haps the greatest single factor in the
When we crowd and stress religion in
| the home, we are following a New
! Testament precedent, and adopting
| a method of efficiency that surpasses
anything that modern ingenuity has
| devised.
The 'NIuch People,"
Nobody who sees things from Gods
standpoint is ever discouraged. When
we become blue" it is a sure sign
that we are looking at things from
facts makes optimists. Most. of the
spies whom Moses sent into Canaan
saw the giants and the grasshoppers,
but they also saw God, and they re-
God knows we should never be cast
down.
Like all city preachers Paul seems
to have had his hours of discourage
ment. So in a vision at night God
came 20 him with the message which
| He so often has repeated to His serv-
ants, BE not afraid Whoever feels
cast down should take a concordance
and run through he phrases Fear
not BE not afraid "Be of good
courage The pages of inspiration
are peppered with calls to courage.
To Paul the message came, BE not
afraid, but speak, and hold not thy
lpeace: For I am with thee, and no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee;
for I have much people in this city"
Even in Corinth God had much
people" So he has also in Philadel-
phia, and New York and Chicago and
XTy-if hot Cor iy1f,r %
deep on your hearts, o you fearful,
discouraged. whining saints. who look
and talk as if God had been defeated.
There are more Christians in Chi
cago than the newspapers know;
Two days ago, on Saturday, l read
carefully a paper which professed to
be the greatest in the world. Within
it's territory. to my own personal
knowledge, were notable religious
! events N progress-an International
II Sunday school conference, Young
lflMen's Christian Association confer
ence,. and general Christian work
ers' conference, in addition to all the
varied work of the churches of that
city Yet there was not a line about
religion in the whole twenty-four
. pages except the, column and three
quarters of paid. church advertise
ments. The paper did not know that
God had much people" in that city.
1t showed, however. that it knew
that sports had much people, and
L finance had much people," and mo-
ton pictures and society and theaters
had much people,
i And the most serious fact about that
situation is that probably not single
one of the hundreds of thousands of
Christians in that papers territory
wrote a friendly line to the editor re-
minding him that God also has much
people" in his city. For the church
in the city needs. to become more
vocal. 1t should do more than exist:
it should be a felt force. The leader
) ship in all moral and ethical advance
J ment should be avowedly and mani
testify with the church. Militant
Christians are the ones who transform
J heather CoEinths into Christian COM
| munities.