1186 T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S “ Confined!” our friend replied, “ Do you mean to say you are pinch ed when you seek in the Bible for sermon material? That is like a soft shell crab saying, ‘Must I be confined to the Atlantic Ocean?’ ” A prominent New York minister is quoted as saying that people no longer want these“ leaves from the past, these humdrum sacred texts and ancient formulas.” He declares they do not attract the active mind. “ The old beliefs and methods” says he, “ quite sincerely held by our an cestors, have become inadequate if not grossly irrelevant and out-of -date. It sounds like a feeble echo from former centuries rather than a direct message to the present day. The greatest need of the churches is a supply of men of intelligence. The churches must be able to make an appeal to the thoughtful. ’’ But what of the fact that men are dead in trespasses-and sins and want deliverance ? What of the hunger for something that will truly satisfy the soul? Is there any better scheme for saving souls than the Bible gives us? Will the discussion of current topics and the advancing of human speculations satisfy the soul? Is there any angle of human experience that is not illustrated in the Word of God? Is there any thing else for a man, called of God, to preach? The greatest preacher of the age said; “ I am determined to know noth ing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” His strongest ad vice to a young preacher was, “ Preach the Word. ' Be instant in season and out of season.” When Christ preached the Word “ many were gath ered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door.” The great men of God who have moved the multitudes for God, have found plenty of material in the Bible. Strange, isn’t it, that some of our young preachers today think themselves pinched and have to browse in the libraries and second-hand book stores to find a theme for a Sunday ser mon. Of course a minister should be well read, but if it is his aim to feed people who are spiritually hungry, he ought to know from the testimonies of millions of people, that there is nothing but the Bread of Life that will satisfy.—K. L. B. % ^ THE DANCING CHURCH Five hundred mothers met in A tlanta, Ga., and unanimously petitioned the city au tho rities to close all dances at m idnight, and to pu t such restrictions about the dancers as to lessen tem ptations to imm orality.' The citizens of Asheville, N. C., in a g reat mass meeting, urged th e city council to refuse license to all dance hall proprietors, and th e ir request was granted. A commencement ball under the auspices of a Christian university was so shameless -in its doings th a t the report of the police, assigned to keep order, was not fit to print. A dance recently given in a small southern village was such th a t the chief of police declared th a t if th e dancers had been negroes he would have arrested them , but he dared not touch the elite citizens of th e place. The modern danGe is the fine a rt of covering w ith music, indelicate, immodest and often indecent attitud es and postures between men and women. It is too
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