East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-04-02
SOME MESSAGES HEARD nv
LOCAL CHURCHES SUNDAY

sin fell away. 4
II i',sniediatelys eegan % praach 'thc
Christ 1shated and continued so to
do, for was not disohedientl unto the
heavenly vision.
Something like this Is the para
phrased story What did Paul see /?
Was IL objective or subjective only \
IL Is scarcely worth n conjecture. II
was enough at least TO change the
bitter persecutor belching out his
hate. 70 a follower OF God. II was a
complete change and that is the only
point requiring consideration.
Say what We will visions are funda-
mentally necessary. Men dream OF
things, then rise to do them They
see then believe and obey. The Hud-
son river tunhels were visions Tor
years before they were actual facts.
Columbus had a vision OF new land
and sailed until he found it. So Is II
ever. To be without vision is to stag
nate or die.
without vision the people per-
ish." Doubtless visions differ as they
pass through our media. but the eies
ments abide. We have visions through
the win and IL this is stubborn 1t will
bye and bye atrophy and fail to rec-
ord. Or II may be our inspirations
which all have. We are never at our
hest unless inspired by some new
fact or possibility of achievement.
Our impulses should help us too, but
whatever it be unless stimulated and
used the power of vision gradually
lessons until it idwindles and finally
disappears.
Have we visions of present duty?
Do we see the need of our service and
testimony here and now? The world
never needed real Christian men more
than now. Do we not see how we are
to build ourselves into the child-life
about us? In few more Years they
will have grown. Our vision and
obedience will largely determine the
kind of men and women they shaIiI
be.
Let me hasten to add though that
Pauls vision was S"heaveniy'' Let
that mean what it hay. This much
is true that visions without heaven In
View. with God discarded or church |
derided. will not uplift a world. Paul
obeyed real voice. real person and
1t was this realness which moved him |
to such speedy and vigorous action.
Were We to obey what we believe |
what might not happen in Pendleton
through our action. See what Paul
did, In one short life he put his im-I
press on the world. His labors were |
His zeal boundless,
his faith sublime, his courage unfail-
ing.
Abraham went cut from home by
vision. Isaiah saw God and laid his
talents at his feet. whitman had a
vision and saved the Oregon country
10 the Union. But why multiply
names. II we obey the light we have.
-esults must follow. Paul believed
ne had a mans job and he tackled it
ike man. There never was a peri
ID of history calling for red blooded
men more urgently than now Were
men more faithful to-Godk bolshevism
Ind kindred evils would be over
brown. Just now the ranchers have
| visiorof harvest and because of this
hey are sowing, harvesting, doing all
zinds of hard work, assured of the
'eward few months hence.
What rewards are we expecting?
t may be we are dreaming that by
look or crook we shall get our fl r.
Ial rest with God. Remember the
oor OF the sheep-fold is Jesus and
e says.
There is, no other way by which to
nter."
The true vision calls for self-losing.
with Christ. the sense of
haring with others and very real
evelopment of our being to the liv-
lg God. Peter at Joppa was thus
nlarged. His Jewish narrowness
as removed.
We need a vision of the Christ or
e shall not be saved. then all the
ay other yistas will call us on to the
aights of attainment. In the midst
the binding dust of life let us not :
reet TO cultivate the heavenly side. :,
an IL more than beast and is made :
the Divine image. He is never n
uly cultured unless some develop cl
ent goes hand in hand it'll the moral tc
ID physical. III