Norwich bulletin., 1920-04-13
TIMES MAKE DEMANDS
 FOR CHRISTIAN CRUSADERS

The world needs a new order of | Christian men and women or the re- viyals of an old order declared Rev. Dr. s. H. Howe in his sermon at the Sunday morning service at Park Con- gregational church. He spoke from the ears to hear, let him hear" and said that there were three things that the call of God demands, attention, con centration and specialization. s In part he spoke as follows:
 To him who reads the Bible, not
 in snippets, but in books as We read other books, it is the one book of the
 world that is alive. It is book of
 stirring activities. It is, not a picture
 repressible energies It Is not the story
 of still life or static life. but of ir- of merely past. history but of a perpetually enacted history. All hu-
 manity in all phases, of it's, self f-ex- pression is, there in microcosm. All
 classes of men, kings. peasants. war | riors. law-givers, saints, sinners. and so on to an endless chapter, of hut man life. ~1g F s Open it anywhere and there is this stir and Pavement of great energies and activities. all it's events in hur-
 ried pace leading up to definite goal something of tremendous import | ance is on hand, and that something | concerns us, and, calls to us. The book 1 finds us at greater; depths than any 1 other, it searches us out, it haunts us, l it digs into the secrecies of our in most natures, 1t grips our intellects, | it sets ablaZe our conscierices, 1t | drives us out of our lethargies and l out inertias, it forces us to, face God, | Who is here on the ground and to
 face ourselves. The soul, Is strip ped of all subterfuges and self con :
 sediments and is naked and open be- fore the great realities. It calls to, us with strident, insistent voices which we do well to heed. And when we enter the New Testament the stirring E of these spiritual activities become
 intense. We are here in the presence Eof one supreme personality whose vi : tality and crowded activities fill all sI the spaces. to whom we are bidden to
 be attentive and who assumes the
 mandatory note and; bids us stand. al
 attention. He has in all He does tc do with us. His words are direct
 led. to us. He wants something of us He issues mandates. He imposes obi gations, calls us to great things, ex. poets. great 7-loyalties and the mos pronounced services from us. s.43 ! There is , no one lse in the New
 Testament but Jesus Christ, there wa: . no-other figure in the first century bu His, There is no one. in these twen. ty ce6suries but, He and those wht have wrought in His name. Voice, ] from heaven appealed to our, indiffer, , tence. This Is My Beloved Son hear y, : him hear. He that hath an ear le ? him hear what the spirit saith to tn, I These three things He demanded: s First: Attention. Some one Il 7 calling. Do we Know we are the on, needless folk? Nature below us needs. In nature there are no mutinee or disloyalties. but man. does he hee, f the divine mandate? Then above u 2. the rational worlds are attentive Tn, 1 laneels do His bidding They heed th : whispers of the divine sbehest. but vi Fl have reserved to ourselves this dead os diest of insults of needless inattentioi Ito divine behests. Jesus Christ, fill S Iing5syour. New Testament with Hi t. presence, filling history. with Hi sI reder<otive energies, filling the futur s with His reign. calls and we go heed
 less on ouraway. We have piped un U to you and ye have not danced, W
 have mourned unto you and ye hay s not lamented.75 ), We can. be needles 1t from indifference or from wilful re Q sistancee or from cowardice. afraid | look Lcsus Christ in the face. i. 1-s Second: Concentration. To hea ' weFmust draw ourselves to the Spo ! i Sir Isaac Newton thought the differ , ence between. himself and others wa
 that he gave attention to the thin . I in handc sGladStone'S greatness con !. sisted in allowing nothing to divel c him from thec.work in hand. 1t wa ' said5 of : Emerson that wherever h ,t was he was all there! To be 'schola C.. an artist. business man, one mui Ie1 put his mind on his work. and to ! e, ChriSt'S men we must bring the who .e t-nlass' of personality into the doing is the one important thing. We mu
 take pains with our religious Twin n It. must be the first thing, the sl d preme thing. We find it easier
 in go out and build social Utopias. st g revolutions run ourselves out F2 breath to set the world right W 1t are wise if we give ourselves to u te creation of. a fine personality such d Jesus Christ can use in building
 is spiritual Kingdom in the world.
 ,- Third: Specialization. It ri Is ol ye business to specialize in the religio, 2 life, To make Jesus Christ's d. h mands and commands our supren
 concern and our sustained interes Tc Not to get a living is our chief col cern, but to live. and to give If ss heart, whole, to Jesus Christ. TT
 greatest man of the. first century, af CT his Lord said. .For me to live Fl Christ" He specialized. He did n h speak his Lords name with stan at mering lips or hide it behind a cam lg fage of general terms. He put (
 the Lord Jesus Christ as his ga SC ments. In. the Epistle to the Roman t. he uses the name of Jesus Christ i- times, in the second Corinthians. Id times, in Galatians 4S times. in Phi ot ippans 3S times, in -Colossians
 nt times. He did not know your myth ak cal Christs or your ideal Christs. I ], knew Jesus Christine Saviour of u as world. To be great Christian ' re must be outstanding Jesus Christ " men and women.
 t. Now from this and from outstan D. ing events would do well to .unde a. stand that we have to have ne at order of Christian men and women
 the revival of an old order A wei
 land sssheroic and non sacrifice H. HChristianfty has left the world = he chaos. We mus. have new type
 Christian. We have got to z lla
 Especialists who specialize on the o = business for which we are, here.y
 Emust have men who know sanethi D. more than the alphabet of Christi