Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-17
M|GHT|ER PEN,
WEAKER SWORD
Progress of the World Today is
Proof of the Old, Old
Adage.

Topic Using Our Pen for Christ =
Luke IL; 3 John Iii, written by
Wilbur Smith of Chicago, formerly Of
West PRESBYTERIAN Church
That adagc The pen ls mighiier than
the sword, upon first thought would
appear as n mockery in the present hour.
But IN reality 1T is more true today than
ever BY n pen was a treaty written the
dcsecration of which brought all the world
against It's desecrator With n pcnned
ultimatum war was declared and with n
pcnncd treaty will that nation sign its
confession of defeat, Those who occupy
invaded Belgium today fear most not
steel nor cannon. but the written word
of that great saint Of God, Cardinal
Mcrcier
More strengthening to the morale Of
our allies than military victories are the
written declarations of Justice and firm
ness from the hands Of our leaders And
more damning to the cause of our enemies
than n military defeat are the written
revelations of Prince lichnowsky. BY
the writings of two men, NietLsChe and
TrcitSchke, was the German conscience
calloused and its national honor made a
thing Of absolute scltishncss. As these
men, ConfeSScdly SO, knew not the Lord
Jesus may there. and that soon, rise IN
that wrctChcd country, other men who
shall, knowing Him, with their pens
bring shame Ia the heart of that people,
and draw for them a new honor, and point
TO the true worth of litc ! cs the pen
today is more powerful than ever IN all
history Better it were, says recent
editorial in the London Times that Britain
put tax on cartridges and guns than on
literature.
Thus, seeing for ourselves that power
beyond all comprehension being exerted
everywhere ought not we as followers OF
Christ to search for opportunities where
we may direct some of it through Chris
tian channels? We need not search for
long God Himself has borne testimony
to the power of the written word by
giving the Bible into the Church as the
lamp To our feet and light to our path
way; and He, too, raised the art OF letters
to heights Of divine beauty when lie
called His own Son the " ord
| nto every true Christian Is the
privilege of confessing that Jesus is the
Son Of God, and many are the means of
confession by the pen. We are pouring
out ink to our loved ones across the water
Are we fully avallng ourselves of these
strange circumstances? AT no time since
the star led the wise men TO Bethlehem
have men been so eager to hear the
name of Jesus rs are those today who
are smelling powder and seeing blood
and flame With all our mention Of
home, of loved ones, of our care and
thought of them to whom we write, let
us not fail to write of the glad tidings
Of our Lord. Many are the conversions
wrought by the power of the Holy SPIRIT
working through the pen OF Christ
filled man or woman
! mention letter-writing first because it
Is with all of us. But moment remains
for notice of other means. Germany
planned, in the expenditure of fifty
millions of dollars, to buy the leading
papers in thirty of our great cities. that
she might thereby instruct us to keep out
Of the war The tragedy of it all is
that had she succeeded in buying the
papers she would probably have had her
desires fulfilled. What would happen
today If someone were TO go out and spend
fifty millions Of dollars in our newspapers
in behalf of the kingdom OF Jesus Christ?
If such a sum, in the name of evil, would
work terrific disaster, an equal sum. like
wise, in the name Of the Rcdeemer of the
world would change the lives of literally
millions of our people
We cannot write of Christ to effect
unless we know Him unto power. Our
writing is a reflection Of our life and an
accurate one Talk sometimes may be
decelVlng; writing seldom is For this
reason, so an intimate friend tells us
does President Wilson demand that all
questions for decision be submitted to
him in writing, and not by the presence
of a personality; for he fears the latter
by his enthusiasm and magnetism might
for the moment lead him 10 false decision
which a calm and unpreludiced study of th
former could not. Not all who love our
Saviour are able to write Of Him, but
all who write must love him
It is very inspiring to hear the friends
who receive letters from overseas tell
what they think Of and how much they
enjoy the work Of the Y NJ G A. Some
Of the letters ask their friends 10 become
members and others have asked their
parents to take out membership for
them in their own home town
1t is with great deal of pleasure we
read these weekly WrIte-ups as they come
from men and women in all walks of life
and branches of Christian work 1t is
through this channel that many of us
have been greatly helped and have been
given courage to continue in our work
1t is through the newspaper and our cur
rent magazines that the great matters of
Importance are laid before the people.
and we trust the government will not
tax them so heavily that they will halt
their great work Good reading material
is educational.