The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1950-08-17

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Candor
CONSIDER SOME Of the qualities
~ of this famous man. One was
candor, that Is, he was not afraid
to speak his mind. His opinions
were not always popular; his YER
diets were not always those of the
masses. But he spoke his mind
all the anne.
He called his hearers "gen-
Grafton Of vipers,"-snakes'
babies, In modern words. He
freely admitted he was no Mes
slab. When on a later occasion
he had his doubts about Jesus,
he did not conceal them, but
told Jesus straight from the
shoulder that he questioned him.
And Jesus honored his honesty.
Candor is a rare article. Those
few persons in public life who are
willing to speak their minds may
make some enemies but they make
more admirers. The odd thing is
that people v up their minds
for fear they will be unpopular;
whereas you will generally find
that the candid person does not
lack for friends.
Courage
THAT BRINGS up another quality
l. outstanding in this extraordi-
nary man: his courage. He could
stand up to the most prominent
citizens and tell them they were
sinners, and name their sins.
1t doesn't take much courage
to say you are a sinner, or to
say that any one Is. Aren't we
all? 1t takes more nerve to
speak out in plain language. as
John did to the Pharisees and
Herod for example. When he
called on men to repent; he
meant q specific repentance,
not ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
In a southern state there was a
prison chaplain at the p~enitentiary.
One of the prisoners had been con-
victed of stealing funds from the
state bank. But he never had adj
mitted his guilt, in court or after
wards. He was stand-offish with
the chaplain, though before his con-
yiction he used to be a church Of
ficer and a praying man. the chap
lain could hardly get next to him.
Finally one day he agreed to
vi AS he and the chaplain knelt
down together. the prisoner began:
Lord, thou knowest that we are
all miserable sinners . The
chaplain stopped him. Leaning
over he said to the prisoner: "Wha
are you in here for?" The man wa:
still a moment. Then in a quite diff
ferent tone Of voice he began again
20 God, forgive me for stealing
from the State Bank" 1t was thu
first time he had ever admitted
his guilt. But it took courage Oh
the chaplain's part as well as hi
[, own.
Common Sense
X MOTHER QUALITY Of Johl
"A which deserves notice is hi
simple common-sense. Listen t
what he tells the men who com
with this question: What must W
do? Johns common-sense min
knew that repentance, just by i
self, is not enough. Repentance
turning from something bad I
something good, from wrong
right.
Let the man with two shirts
share with the man who has
none, he said. Let him who has
food do likewise. Let the tax
collector be honest. Let the
soldier stop grumbling; even In
an occupied country" q soldier
must not be unjust or cruel.
Pointing to Christ
vxyHAT MAKES John best remer
w bersd 10 that he prsaeh'
Christ. He Ii known 40 the forsru
nsr; he was the man who said
Jesus, 'Hs must increase but
mus. decrease" The preacher w
calls attention TO himself Is
esotist. a show-off; the preach
who draws mems eyes and heal
to Jesus Christ may himself
small. but his work will be gre
tcopyright by the International Coz
ell Of Religious Education on behalf
!, 40 Protestant denominations R-leas
by WNU Features1
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