The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-01

Tt has been more than whispering campaign It has been a sinister plot and conspiracy"
 Us full occasion to know that coin of curious gathering does find it's way into the treasury of God.
 Indeed, so sordid have become the modern methods of raising church money that the thinking mind is forced to conclude that the free gift offering is among the things forgotten: and that sacrifice for the sake of giving, is lost art in the church.
 It was once taught and believed that one-tenth' belonged to God, and that no man could begin to give until he had paid the debt of one-tenth.
 'It was once the accepted obligation, resting upon all, to bring as an offer ing to God of the first fruits' of the floeks. and the herds. and the fields, and that even such gift must be sane tified by personal sacrifce-this was under the old dispensation, before the Christ had come.
 Today, when money is to be raised for the building of church, we resort to the penny show and the penny en- tertainment,' the twisting of coin from the strangers pocket over tho table of church suppers and church
 
 church biscuits, church aprons and church handkerchiefs, often support Ing the sacred worship itself by meth ods of pious merchandise which link us all too closely to that sad day when the Master wept in the temple and re- jected the gift of His own peculiar peo- pie.
 We do these things and our ex- cuse is:
 Tt is for the CHURCH "Whereas, our reason for NOT doing
 these things should be, because
 Tt IS for the Church.
 "In pointing out the great risk we run today, l shall not be misunderstood or misinterpretted. Lying hard-by the very precious privielege; and we shall not lose the good by seek ing to avoid the evil We not only have the right, but we are called upon to use our talents, whatever that may be, as well as our financial possessions for the glory of God. The woman who is quick and accurate with her noodle and well practiced in the science of cooking, has the same privilege in the use of these for money making as has the man at law or behind the counter.
  any legitimate way for money, even though part or the whole be given to the church: the danger lies in drag ging the church into the markets of the world, and thus making sacred things common. On that point at issue tho New Testament is perfectly clear. A certain man, named Ananius, sold a piece of property, and in the sale he had definite purpose in mind; he in tended to give the price to the church In rebuking him for deception, St. Peter said: Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power" So may we sell and buy. and do what we will with the proceeds when the transac- tion is done; but in the transaction we shall not drag the Church of God into the marts of the world; nor shall we permit merchandise to encroach upon the courts of the temple.
 WE CANNOT RUB OUT
 THE MASTERS WORDS
 My dear friends. we may think of these things as we will, and in our human weakness we may find justifi- cation for looseness of method in rais- ing money for the church. upon the ground that the end justifies the means;' but one thing is sure, we can not rub out the Masters words, nor can we erase the Masters action. The one single instance of the violence of right eous angerd exhibited by our Blessed Lord was in this connection: He made whip of cords and drove out of the temple those who sold and bought therein, and over threw the tables of the money changers. saying, Take these things hence Make not My Fathers house a house of merchandise: Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations house of prayer? But ye have made 1t den of thieves
 At the same time, we shall not for get His acceptance of the modest up per chamber nor shall we lose sight of the Masters tenderness in the house of simon the leper; nor His gracious ac- ceptance of hospitality in the humble little home at Bethany. Above it all and beyond it all, we shall not forget the Masters unsurpassed laudation of a gift of two mites, the free-will offer ing of a poor widowed woman.
 The Master stands ready to accept this house as a gift from us. if we are prepared to make the offering in the spirit He has defined, and forbidding the encroachment of everything He has rejected. to consecrate it solely to his honor, and for the glory of His Holy name.
  suaded is expressed the mind of this congregation. This house stands for so much that Is fine. so much that is mo- ble; so much that is splendid. We shall not stop short of all that shall make it none other than the temple of the liv- ing God. We shall not forget the many who loved this place even in the early beginning of its construction, and who have now passed on in waiting for us who are to follow. We shall have in mind the full scope and meaning of the service that consecrates this house for the worship of our God: and we shall see that nothing enters into it's struc- ture, nothing in the service that shall be rendered here; nothing in the teach ing that shall emanate from here; noth- ing into its maintenance that shall make us ashamed to offer. even to the Giver of all good things. St. Andrews honor and glory of " name and His Holy worship r