June 1928
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decorated and most alluring with imita tion flowers. Have you ever gone up to a beautiful vase of flowers expecting to breathe the fresh fragrance o f some freshly cut sweet peas or roses, only to find that they were imitation, with no life? Such are the pleasures of this world. People throng to the theater, moving pic ture show, dance halls, etc., expecting to satisfy .that craving within for rest from their daily toil. True, some claim that such amusements satisfy, but How long do such amusements last and what effect do they have upon the person’s life morally and spiritually? The other garden of pleasure is filled with beautiful, real, fragrant flowers, flowers that bloom all the year round, and whenever one enters this garden he is refreshed and comes away satisfied. Such a garden is pictured' to us in the words of the Psalmist, “ In Thy presence there is fulness o f joy ; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” Let us al ways be found in the Christian’s garden o f amusements, and let pur amusements truly measure up to our Christianity. —o— C hoice N uggets We should make life confession. The British consul at Colon, Panama, says: “ One of the most effective answers I have heard to the oft-recurring question of doubtful amusements in the Christian’s life was that given at a Question Meeting at Keswick Convention some years ago by- a speaker who quoted a conversation between a worldly church-member and her pastor. The worldly one, defending her practices, said, ‘But, Mr. X., I can take Jesus Christ with me to the theater and ballroom.’ To which the pastor quietly replied: ‘Indeed, is that so? You can take Jesus with you. I did not know that was the order—that it was yours to lead and His to follow.’ ”—Selected.' A man who was seeking to become a Christian bemoaned the lot that would come to him if he gave himself to Christ. “I shall have to give up so much IT!he said. “There are many things I can do now that I can’t do then.” “ But,” said a _Christian brother, “there are many things that you can’t do now. You can not eat mud or drink it,” “No,” replied the man: “but I don’t want to do a thing like that.” “ That’s just it,” was the reply. “And when you become a thoroughgoing Christian, all sin will become distasteful to you. You will not want to commit it.” —Christian Herald. Q uestions .A bout A musements Do they rest and strengthen, or weary and weaken the body? Do they -rest and strengthen, or weary and weaken the brain ?
Do they make resistance to temptation easier or harder? Do they increase or lessen love for vir tue, purity, temperance and justice? Do they give inspiration and quicken enthusiasm, or stupefy the intellectual and harden the moral nature? Do they increase or diminish respect for manhood and womanhood’? Do they draw one nearer to, or remove one further from, Christ? Amusements should always be avoided when they are associated with any great evil institution. The people of Israel played before the golden calf. THeir play was associated with the evil institution o f idolatry. Paul said that he could eat meat offered to idols, for he regarded an idol as nothing and it would not, there fore, injure him. He had a right to eat, but He had the higher right which was the right to give up his personal right for the good o f the weaker brother. He there fore determined to surrender this right and exercise the higher right o f self- denial for the benefit o f otheriiii—Rev. A. C. Dixon, D.D. Any pleasure which takes and keeps the heart from God is sinful, and unless for saken will be fatal to the soul!—Richard Fuller. The habit of dissipating every serious thought by a succession of agreeable sen sations is as fatal to happiness as to vir tue; for when amusement is uniformly substituted for objects o f moral and mental^ interest, we lose all that elevates our enjoyments above the scale o f childish pleasures.—Anna Maria Porter. Amusements to virtue are like breezes of air to the flame-;-gentle ones will fan it, but strong Jones will put it out.-§| David Thomas. For the bow cannot possibly stand always bent, nor can human nature or human frailty subsist without some law ful recreation.—Cervantes. Recreation is intended to the mind as whetting is to the scythe, to sharpen the edge o f it, which otHerwise would grow dull and blunt,—as good no scythe as no edge.—Bishop Hall. a s as June 17, 1928 The Church’s Responsibility for Recreation Today’s lesson is; similar to last Sun day’s lesson in that it has to do with recreation, but taking up a little different phase oL the subject, “The Church’s Responsibility for Recreation.” ! From the Scripture lesson found in the Gospel of Mark we note that even Jesus in His busy life found it necessary with His disciples Lev. 23:39-43. Mark 6 :31-32. T houghts on the T opic
June 10, 1928 How Are Our Amusements A Measure Of Our Christianity? Romans 14:7, 13-19. ■“Pleasure wrong or rightly understood; Our greatest evil, or our greatest good;” ' —Pope. —o— T houghts on the T opic ■ That which acts as a diversion from the daily routine, such as an entertainment, game or sport is amusement. What effect this has upon our Christianity is the ques tion for our consideration tonight. What kind o f amusements do we enjoy? With what spirit do we enter into these amuse ments? These are factors which deter mine in a measure our Christianity. First: What kind o f amusements do we enjoy? As Christians it should not be difficult to decide the form o f recrea tion in which we should engage. Anything that would weaken our character or cause another to fall into sin by our participa tion certainly should not claim our inter ests. Satan has’ ■ •many devices in the amusement field which on the surface appear to be harmless, but that is his method of working. The first question he puts to our young people regarding certain amusements which are at all ques tionable is, “What harm is there?” John Wesley’s mother once wrote to him when he was in college: “Would you judge o f the lawfulness o f a pleasure, take this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, im pairs the tenderness o f your conscience, obscures your sense o f God, or takes away the relish of spiritual things ; ,what ever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin.” Our second question concerning amuse ment is : What spirit do we manifest even in the most wholesome amusements, such as games and' sports? Do we pout or lose our tempers when things don’t go just as we should like to have them go? If we can’t drive the car, do we sit in the back seat and spoil the outing for the other occupants of the car by telling the driver how he ought to drive or which road he ought to take? Or, are we good losers and if things do not nan out as wë think they should, do we take it smilingly and have a good time in spite- of all? If the latter is true, then our amusements truly measure up'to a consistent victorious Christian life. May we always be Con scious of the fact that the way we play' has its influence upon others, just as much as the way we do our work. In this life there are only two gardens in which a person finds his recreation. The devil has his garden, attractively
MR . PEARCE , who is Secretary o f our Correspondence School, will teach our Beginners’ Course by radio each Monday evening, 7 to 8, beginning June 1. Enroll in this class for $1 and receive lesson material and certifi cate. TUNE IN A N Y W A Y — KTBI— Mondays 7 to 8.
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