Tkere Was A Ckurck
In Our Tcrstfn
By REV. WILL H. HOUGHTON
A chicken supper was the plan for get ting it. All the societies joined in the effort, each watching the other to be sure it did its share and didn’t do more than its share. In the midst of the celebration the discovery was made that Mrs. So-and-So had too much to say and the thing ended in a quarrel that meant the death of the church— or rather its burial as it had died of a sleeping sickness some time before. Many who read this little story will throw it down in disgust and brand it as impossible, exaggerated and hyper critical. The story is mostly true. The point of it is absolutely true. Paid suppers, etc., are destructive to the spirituality of a church. You are yet to hear of a successful supper one night followed by a successful prayer meeting the next. As a financial plan it is unscriptural. God never thanks us for the money put into His work from such a source. Only the free-will offerings of the peo ple! of God will be used of God. The Bible does not say, “ Bring ye all the PIES into the storehouse.” It does say, “ Bring ye all the TITHES into the storehouse.” Some object that we are putting our selves under the law when we teach tithing. The tithe is older than the law. Before the dispensation of law we read of the paying of tithes when Abraham met Melchizedek (Gen. 14, 18-20). Surely a child of God under grace wouldn’t want to do less than the Israelite did under the law. The tithe is to be the minimum not the maximum of the Christian’s giving. God judges your gifts by what you have left. Every old miser tries to ex-
There was a church in our town And it was wondrous wise, It tried to pay expenses By selling cakes and pies; But after years of trying That plan to raise the cash, The folks got tired buying, And the whole thing went to smash. Once upon a time there was a church. They had a nice building and a nice min ister who preached nice sermons to nice people. The preacher was considered broadminded which is another way of saying he was indefinite. Even the wisest members hadn’t been able to dis cover just what he did believe. Every thing was done quietly and in a digni fied manner. In fact the services were so peaceful that a few of the substantial men— the pillars—would catch a few winks of sleep. That church didn’t need pillars half as badly as it needed pil lows. Some of the members were too hard- worked, and others too sickly, to attend many of the services of the church. They all managed to rally when there was a supper or strawberry festival. This church was famous for its straw berry festivals. If you looked into the church on Wednesday night you might find a festi val with three hundred members in at tendance. Come back Thursday night and as you entered the door, if you were very late, you might hear a dozen voices singing the opening hymn, “ Sweet Hour of Prayer.” After some years of this sort of thing the church found itself very deep ly in debt and very much split up into societies for the raising of funds. The end came. Money was greatly needed.
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