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September 1929
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heaven. Should we not all “be diligent” ? (2 Pet. 3:14.) “There remaineth . . . a rest” (Heb. 4:9). To stay away from church services be cause we have so many other engage ments and so little strength left, is like staying away from the table because we are so weak and hungry, and it takes all our time to sweep and wash dishes. The church is the place to get spiritual strength for other duties, just as the table is the place to get bodily strength.— C. E. World. The Bishop of Nelson (New Zealand), at a recent meeting, told of two men who met recently, and one asked the other for a subscription for his church. The reply was that the church was always wanting money. The other friend said, “When my lad was a boy, he was costly; he always wanted boots and shoes, stock ings and clothes, and wore them out fast; and the older and stronger he grew the more money had to be spent on him; but he died, and does not now cost me a shilling.” “Yes,” said the Bishop, “a live church always wants money.” A college student who was uninter ested in art, was once persuaded by his mother to visit an art gallery to view the painting of “The Man of Galilee.” After he had viewed it from every angle, an at tendant, who had observed how earnestly and with what great interest he had stud ied the picture, said to him, “Great pic ture, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is a great picture and is well named ‘The Man of Galilee.’ ” Then the student again softly stepped up to the painting and said, “Oh, Man of Galilee, if I can, in any way, help you to do your work in the world, you can count on me.” “Count on me!” May there be a response in our hearts as we look to the Christ. Young man, young woman, will He be able to count on you? An old woman in New York City—she is eighty-eight years of age—goes down several flights of stairs and walks four blocks to church every Sunday. Another woman—to be sure, she is younger, name ly, seventy-eight—travels six miles every Sunday to get to the same church, in cluding a walk of a mile. The example of these aged ladies is a rebuke to all of us younger folk. How easy we find it to stay home from church! Rain—why, of course we cannot go in the rain. Even cloudy weather is enough to deter us, for it might rain. Cold, heat, headaches, or “headache coming on,” toothache (church drafts are proverbial), backache, face- ache, “nothing to wear,” too tired, com pany coming, company come, company just gone, worried to death, bored to death, can’t stand that Jones boy’s wig gling, can’t stand that Brown baby’s crying, can’t endure the way the preacher reads the hymns, can’t bear the new soprano— she flats, went last Sunday, going next Sunday, can read a sermon in the Tri bune, lovely day for .an auto ride, really need a long walk, must take a rest, you know—why, the reasons for not going to church are as many as there are Sundays in the year, and a few left over. Then, in the face of them all, those two old ladies in New York. “Acre clubs” are planned among the farmers of a western state. Twelve or fifteen farmers of a community are to form the club in that neighborhood. Each farmer agrees to plant a single acre for a certain crop, to give it the best care he can, and keep an exact account of his ex penses and labor with reference to that
acre, together with the growth and de velopment of the crop and of other mat ters necessary to make the experiment as instructive as possible. After the harvest the club is to hear in turn the results of all these acres, and thorough discussion is to give to every member of the club the full experience of all the other members with regard to their acres. So far as pos sible, each acre is to be planted for a different crop, so as to bring in the largest amount of information. The idea is so admirable that it is a shame to confine it to agriculture; why not apply it also to things of the spirit? Why, for instance, should not a dozen Christians band them selves together, each agreeing to cultivate some little corner of the great “field which is the world,” and report to the whole club from time to time just how they are getting along and all that they have learned? One will take a Sunday- school class. One will take a church com mittee. One will take an old ladies’ home. One will take a discouraged mother. One will take a “tough” young man. One will try personal evangelistic work. One will undertake Christian cor respondence. One will see what can be done by lending good books. One will use a consecrated talent for music. And each will “occupy” his acre,—will fill it full, that is, of earnest planning and ar dent toil. The one will learn from the other, and all will learn from God. His rain and His sunshine will help them with their acres, and will accomplish far more than all their hoes and plows. And after the harvest they will meet for such a jubilee as their lives have never known before. Acre clubs 1 Come to think of it, that is what all churches and all prayer meetings should be. It is often true that in the economy of church life the experience of the humble, plain man is far more edifying than the mere wisdom of the educated man. We are the body of Christ; we are feet and hands, ears atnd mouths. Some things are higher than others. The brain is better than the muscle, and the muscle than the bone; yet the bone is very necessary, the muscle is necessary, and the brain neces sary. The Church needs the high and the low. — o — September 15, 1929 Putting God In the Budget 2 Cor. 9:6-8; 1 Cor. 6:20. D aily . R eadings Sept. 9. God’s Claim to Ownership. Psa. 24:1. Sept. 10. Generous Giving. Exod. 36:1-7. Sept. 11. Secret Giving. Matt. 6:1-4. Sept. 12. The Spirit of Giving. 2 Cor. 8: 1-5. Sept. 13. Our Stewardship. Matt. 25:14-30. Sept. 14. Rewards of Giving. 2 Cor. 9:6-8. C hoice N uggets Nathan Straus, in an address entitled “Invest in Happiness,” quotes this old saying that has been current among the Jews for over 1900 years: “What you give in health is gold; What you give in sickness is silver; What you give after death is lead.”
What a window is to a room, ofttimes an illustration is to a message. It sheds light. In the field of helps for the leader of a C. E. meeting, there appears to be an ample supply of good suggestions on how to conduct the meeting, but a great dearth of pointed illustrations on the topic for the evening. The editor of this department there fore seeks in these pages from month to month to give the leader carefully selected illustrations on the topic and daily read ings. These may be used by the leader in his talk, or cut out, numbered and handed to different members to read zvhen called for. — o — September 8, 1929 What Does Our Church Ask of Us? Rom. 12:4-8 D aily R eadings Sept. 2. Attendance. Heb. 10:24, 25. Sept. 3. Faithfulness. 3 John 5. Sept. 4. Support. Gal. 6:6. Sept. 5. Voluntary Service. Rom. 12:6-13. Sept. 6. A Christlike Life. Col; 3 :l-3. Sept. 7. Evangelistic Zeal. 2 Tim. 4:1, 2. —o— C hoice N uggets I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do I ought to do. What I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do. An old Roman, who was deeply con cerned in the welfare of his native city, dreamed that he saw a great army of Roman citizens marching past. In front were many old men, carrying a banner in scribed, “We have been brave.” “Yes,” he replied, “but they are old and gray now, and Rome cannot rely on them for her future.” Then came a younger body of men, with a banner, “We are brave.” Again he replied, “They will soon be old, and Rome cannot rely on them for her future.” At last there came a great crowd of boys crying out, “We will be brave.” Then the old man’s heart was glad. He felt satisfied that the future welfare of Rome was secured. The hope of Rome lay in youth. Humanly speaking, the hope of the Church today is in the rising gen eration of Christians (2 Tim. 1 :3). “I belong to the Church diligent," said a little Sunday-school girl to her teacher. Of course she meant the Church militant, as the Christians on earth are sometimes called in contrast to those at rest in
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