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lives that are right with God are winning lives.. That is a striking word in a letter from Dan Crawford, the African mission ary : “What a settling o f old scores there is when the blood of the cross cleanseth away all crookedness between a man and a man, as well as a man and his God. Your straight, strapping African can often be crooked enough. But here we have the change; and now you have a man who is straight of back as well as straight of life, who believes the new doctrine that no man treats Christ well who treats his brother wrong.”— Sunday School Times. Wherever the Christian religion really makes itself felt, there we find a growing sense that “no man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself,” but that in a very true sense we are our brothers’ keep ers. Some months ago, in the Philippines, as the Rev. J. C. Robins, who had been holding meetings for several days in a certain place, came to the last evening, a woman, a native convert, said to him: “You ought not to leave us tomorrow. You ought to stay longer.” But he said: "We have been here four days; you must not expect to keep us. You have had your opportunity, and now we must go on to other places.” The woman answered “ Oh, I was not thinking of ourselves, but o f those who will come in from the neigh boring villages tomorrow. They have never heard of Jesus. And they might hear, if you could only stay. I was not thinking o f ourselves, but of them.” The young convert in the Philippines, who had learned Ifbut. a few lessons of the Christ, had come to see more clearly, per haps, than many of us do, that we are our brothers’ keepers..— John A. Hawley. During His early ministry, Jesus Christ was dependent upon God the Father for everything (cf. John 5:19, 36; 10:18; 17: 2; 14:10). By His life and words He taught that stewardship covers more than the grace o f giving; it includes every fac ulty o f one’s being. In Jesus Christ, God the Father was “well pleased.” Will He be satisfied with each of Us, His stewards, and able to say of us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” ? ♦ * * S ide L ights Not only those who give their lives to full time service are stewards. The corn- man mail is one also. If it is our duty to keep house, that is oUr stewardship for the time being.— Morton. In presenting to the: University of Min nesota the princely gift o f two million dollars for medical education, the eminent surgeon, Dr. William J. Mayo, said, “ The money came from the people, and we feel it should return to the people.” In that statement a great principle is expressed. The returns from our devel oped talents belong to the Giver, to be used for the benefit of our fellow men. The two greatest missionary documents known are the Lord’s Prayer and the par November 16, 1930 Jesus, an Example o f Stewardship John 17:1-7; Luke 2:49 T houghts on the T opic
despair only deepened. About this time he traveled to an inland station, and there, hanging upon a wall, he saw the motto; “ Try Thanksgiving.” He obeyed, and in a moment every shadow had disappeared, never to return. A man cast upon a desert island spent a day in fasting and prayer, but no help came. It occurred to him then to have a day of thanksgiving and praise. He did so, and help came immediately. As soon as he began to make mention of the lov- ingklndness o f the Lord he received more o f it. Give out the following references, and as the passages are read, write on the blackboard the object indicated in each, for which we are to be thankful: Lk. 2:27, 28
able o f the Prodigal Son. If you have ever read the parable o f the Prodigal Son as the agony o f a bereaved father’s heart, you have found that missions are placed in the very heart o f our God and Father, whose name we bear. And if you have ever said, “ Our Father,” you have felt the call and passion of brotherhood that runs through the whole of the missionary movement. It is there that Jesus laid the foundation o f all this missionary enter prise. Luther said: “My coat of arms shall be a heart that has the color o f human flesh upon it, warm with human love, and in it shall be planted the cross, the bla,ck cross, that shows the sacredness of sacrificial suffering, and that shall be set in a rose of the purest white—the purity and strength o f character that God can give to those that suffer—and back o f it all shall be that ground o f blue that brings heaven nearer to earth, and around it shall be the golden ring o f perfection and eternity as a symbol of what Jesus Christ has done for men.”— Prof. 0 . E. Brown.
< 1 Cor. 14:18 Acts 28:15 Rom. 6:17
Psa. J03:1,3 . Rom. 7 :24, 25 ' 1 Cor. 15:57 1 Pet. 1 :3 Col, 1:12 2 Cor. 1:3, 4 John 11:41 Dan, 2 :23 1 Tim. 1:12 1 Tim. 4 :3
2 Thess. 2:13’ 1 Cor. 1:4 Rom. 1 :8 Eph. 1 :5 1 Thess. 3 :8 1 Tim. 2:1 Phil. 4:6 1 Thess. 5 :18 * *
— o— November 23, 1930 Things for Which We Should Be Thankful
S ide L ights
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Psalm 103:1-13 (Thanksgiving) T houghts on the T opic
To recall the circumstances o f the first day o f Thanksgiving may serve to remind us of how much more we have to be thankful for than had the early Pil grims. History tells us that of the 102 emigrants that landed on the bleak and rocky coast of Cape Cod Bay in the win ter o f 1620, almost half died before the following winter fairly set in. Today, in our comfortable country and city homes, '¡ we cannot even imagine the sufferings of the survivors, both from destitution and the inclement weather, for which they were not prepared, either as to clothes or habitations. Most o f those brave people were not inured to hardships. They staked and laid out two rows of huts for the nineteen families that composed the col ony ; but within the first year they had to make seven times as many graves for the dead as they had built houses for the liv ing. Notwithstanding all their trials and hardships, these brave founders of a great and glorious race had so much to be thank ful for that they had to appoint “an espe cial day on which to give especial thanks for all their mercies.” So they agreed among themselves that, since their prudence and forethought had been so wonderfully blessed of God, they would send out four men hunting, that they might rejoice to gether in a special manner after the fruit of their labors had been gathered. Ac cording to the historian, barley and In dian corn were their only crops. The four men who went hunting brought in enough game to serve the company for a week. The recreations o f the day consisted of the exercise of their arms. Massasoit, the Indian chief, and ninety o f his men, came for three days, during which they were entertained and feasted by the col onists, the Indians killing and bringing to the feast five deer. This was in 1621, and was the beginning of the annual Thanksgiving day in America.— American Agriculturist. The first recorded Thanksgiving was- the Hebrew feast of the tabernacles.
O f all the people in the world who should rejoice,, the Christian has more reason for thanksgiving than any other. Nothing pleases God more,than to have His children manifest a spirit of gratitude to Him ; and nothing enriches a man’s soul so much as the praise which he offers. A missionary in China received sad news from home. He prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. He summoned himself to endure, but the blackness of
Work For Jesus B y M. H asloch Christian, work for Jesus, Who on earth for thee Laboured, wearied, suffered, Died upon the tree. Work, with lips so fervid That thy words may prove Thou hast brought a message From the God of. love. Work, with heart that burneth Humbly at His feet Priceless gems to offer For His crown made meet. Work, with prayer unceasing, Borne on faith’s strong wing, Earnestly beseeching Trophies for the King. Work, while strength endureth, Until death draw near; Then thy Lord's sweet welcome Thou in heaven shalt hear. .. ■—Evangelical Christian.
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