Texas Christian Advocate (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1909 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Texas Christian Advocate and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
/G
(8"PEX-S
A
GN
■ $(
A
N-
) i
Vol. LV
Dallas, Texas, Thursday, June 3, 1909
No. 42
EDITORIAL
Entered at the Postoffice at Dallas, Texas, as Second-Class Mall Matter Under Act of Congress March 3, 1879.—Office of Publication: 416-18 Jackson Street.
6
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF ALL THE TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO CONFERENCES OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
A ' 43
} $,-
» 8
< ..
Bitterness in the human heart is destructive
to the sweets of life. It renders us unfit for
the communion of saints and for fellowship
with the immortals. No man can ever get to
heaven with a heart filled with bitterness.
C
We have to walk by faith and not by sight.
Sight only reveals to us the things that are
visible and intangible. These are temporal and
will pass away. But faith reveals to us the
eternal and the unchangeable. It is the sub-
stance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things unseen. Faith relates us to the heavenly
world and fixes our anchorage near the shores
of Heaven.
THE DALLAS DISTRICT AND THE TO-
BACCO QUESTION.
At a largely attended meeting of the Dallas
District Conference last week, that body passed
a resolution memorializing the next General
Conference to so change the law of the Church
as to forbid the licensing of young ministers
to preach the gospel who are addicted to the
tobacco habit and who will not promise to dis-
continue the habit. This is a drastic memo-
•rial, but it was supported by a number of men
who themselves are devoted to the weed. Of
course, such a law, if passed, would not apply
to those already licensed, and who use tobacco.
It would be for the benefit of the men who are
to become the ministers in the Church here-
after. Just what view of this question the next
General Conference may take, we can not say;
but it is a fact that the matter will receive at-
tention. It did in the last General Conference,
after a fashion. But sentiment in the Church
is growing against the tobacco habit in the
minister.
We have no radical views on the subject. We
have never personally used the weed. We do
not belong to that class of men and women who
brought many letters back to him showing their
high appreciation. When he took his seat, C.
M. Jacobson, now a prosperous business man
at Lewisville, and a member of the conference,
arose and said: “I know the truth of what
Bro. Sears has said. In the long ago when I
landed in New York from the old country, I
knew nothing about this country or its people.
I had but little means. But I was directed to
this sort of a mission home. They took me
in, treated me kindly, gave me a copy of God’s
word in my own tongue, and charged me but
a very moderate price for good accommodation.
They also gave me directions. At that time I
had never heard of the Methodists; but I
have been a Methodist ever since, and I have
used my influence to make others of my coun-
trymen Methodists. I never go to New York
that I do not visit that home. Bro. Sears, you
and your people will never know the good you
are doing by treating these poor immigrants
kindly. It is bread cast upon the water. It
will be returning in ail the days to come.”
That talk made a profound impression, for
it was a living demonstration of the value of
the work we are doing at Galveston in our
treatment of those downtrodden people who
are seeking a home in this land of liberty.
Kindness is a strong leverage with which to
make an opening in the human heart. And
we can not give too much encouragement to
ibis useful work at Galveston.' It is one way
to reach the people who are flocking to this
country, but who know but little about our
customs and our form of religion. Yet they
are susceptible; and one of these days, if not
themselves, their children will be leading citi-
zens of this Commonwealth. The Methodist
Church ought to throw open its doors to them
and be the first to grasp them by the hand and
to show them brotherly kindness when they
step upon our shores at Galveston. Cultivate
them and give them a chance, and Christ will
do the rest for them.
LOOKING UNTO CHRIST.
It was when John Newton “saw one hang-
ing on a tree” that his heart was broken and
he cried out in penitence and faith for mercy.
And who knows but that it was when Nico-
demus looked upon the crucified body of the
Son of God as he took part in his burial service
that his eyes were opened and he learned more
than when he had that famous interview by
night with the Master. When Christ said,
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth I will
draw all men unto me,” he uttered a truth that
contains the philosophy of human redemption.
The uplifted Christ, hanging upon the cross,
is the magnet that draws men unto him. They
may be able to resist the ordinary gospel mes-
sage, they may find defects in the average ser-
mon, and they may have the power to resist
the appeals of argument and logic, but when
they realize that “he died for me,” they are
dumb with speechlessness. Such love can not
be slightly spoken of, neither can it be easily
set aside. It carries the force of an argument
that is irresistible. Therefore, the preaching
of the crucified Christ is the most effectual wa
to reach the hard-hearted and the unsaved.
There is a pathos in dying love that will break
most any heart and overcome most any obdurate
will. No wonder, then, that Paul said: “I am
determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified.” With this he
hought Asia Minor and portions of Europe
into the fold of the kingdom. We can never
outlive this sort of a gospel. The world stiil
needs it, and the world can still be saved
through its truth. Precious truth—Christ and
him crucified!
OUR WORK AMONG THE GALVESTON
IMMIGRANTS.
In our recent special edition our readers were
given a clear view of the work we are doing
among the foreign immigrants when they ar-
rive on our shores at Galveston. There we have
a mission home fairly well equipped, and we
have those in charge of it who know how to
conduct it. They have with them some one
who can speak the languages of these people
from the Old World. We meet them at the ships,
try to induce them to take lodging in this
home at a minimum expense when they are
able to pay it; and when they are unable to
pay it, we give it to them free of charge. We
put into their hands some portions of God’s
word in their own native tongue, treat them
kindly, help them to get on the right railway
when they leave to make a home somewhere
in the interior; and in this way try to teach
them that we love them like brothers and sis-
ters. Of course, but very little evangelical
work can be done for them during their brief
stay; but the kindness thus shown them opens
the way for the ministers in the communities
where these people finally locate to get into
their hearts.
We recently heard Rev. J. B. Sears, who has
charge of this work, say in our District Confer-
ence that the kindness shown to these people
i
put the tobacco habit along with whisky drink-
ing, swearing and other gross sins. We are not ’
of the impression that the habit within itself
will send a man’s soul to perdition. Neverthe-
less we have strong sympathy with those who
think, at least, that the minister would be bet-
ter off without the fumes of tobacco on his
breath and his clothing. It is a filthy habit *
and it is an extravagant habit. It is useless
and a “needless self-indulgence.” As a result
it is offensive to a great many men and nearly
all our good women. The large majority of
our mothers do not want their boys to form
the habit and they teach them to abstain from it.
But the example of the minister often counter-
acts the advice and the teaching of our mothers.
So that it would be better for the minister
himself and for his influence among the boys
and young men of his congregation to forego
the pleasure he may derive from the habit,
viewed from every standpoint. But men who
have long been addicted to the habit can hardly
be expected to throw’it off this late in life. The
probability is that they will largely continue
it to the end. But there is no excuse for the
young men who are hereafter to enter the min-
istry, either taking it up or continuing it. They
owe it to themselves and to the Church to lay
it aside before they enter the pastorate. The
memorial above mentioned has this in view;
and it will meet with much sympathy in the
next General Conference.
“The Lord preserveth the simple,” and were
this not true, we hardly know what would be-
come of most of us. Our mistakes and our fol-
lies would often lead us into hurtful extremes
were it not for the fact that some good influ-
ence prevents us.
When the heart is right toward God and man
and the mind is under the dominion of the di-
vine will, the life can not go far wrong. It is
tied on to the right source. Heaven gives that
sort of life inspiration.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,” says
the Psalmist. It is an easy matter to fall into
the habit of moping and taking a gloomy view
of the Church and the world about us; but how
much better it would be for us to tell the good
things God’s providence bestows upon us. Paul
says, “The love of Christ constraineth me,” and
he made this his theme instead of the persecu-
tions that came to him.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rankin, George C. Texas Christian Advocate (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1909, newspaper, June 3, 1909; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1586350/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Library and Archives Commission.